


A Nara's Perspective

by ZiquilaLeo



Series: Naruto & Shikamaru As Childhood Friends [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship, Eventual Fluff, Gen, Pre-Naruto Canon Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-02 17:18:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18815458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiquilaLeo/pseuds/ZiquilaLeo
Summary: Shikamaru's point of view of befriending Naruto.Sequel toI'm....





	A Nara's Perspective

_‘This is your duty as the Heir to the Clan.’_

Shikamaru storms out of the Nara Compound, stiffly setting his cotton beanie on his head, all the while ignoring the frustrated rant echoing after him.

He stomps through the winter snow, jerkily wrapping his scarf around his neck and stuffs his freezing hands into the pockets of his pants. 

There are many things Shikamaru considers troublesome, most of which that take up his time he could be using to be cloud gazing or sleeping. 

However, there is one he dislikes a lot that has nothing to do with interrupting his laziness, and it’s the expectations that come with being the Heir to his clan. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his clan and family, but that doesn’t mean he likes that people have already set his road of life for him without his consent in the matter. It irritates him to no end. 

Sure, his friendship with Choji is one of the positive benefits he got from it, but still. Had Choji not been Choji, Shikamaru would have likely never befriended the boy. The other person he was supposed to bond with, one Yamanka Ino, hadn’t worked as well as it had between him and Choji. The girl was a menace with a bossy attitude that clashed with his lazy persona, it didn’t help that she was often mean to the both of them.

They were the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation, the first of which to actually be raised from a young age to work together and surpass the previous generation. 

Shikamaru could deal with that. 

But, he won’t stand for being nagged at because he won’t befriend a potential teammate. His relationship with the other two supposedly started for political reasons, the demand of A-Rank Teams who worked overall together pressuring their fathers to continue their teamwork onto the next generation. It was why Shikamaru met the other two at such a young age and was continuously encouraged to befriend one another during their little ‘play dates’. 

Yeah, no. 

Aside from Choji, Shikamaru is willing to make truce with Ino so they could perform well together when the time arises for the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation; beyond that, he doubts he would accept the blonde as a friend, not unless she changes her attitude towards them, which he doesn’t see happening until she goes through some kind of life-changing situation. 

He’s not being a brat and ignoring his mother’s suggestions at befriending Ino, he just doesn’t want anything to deal with the girl if it goes beyond a political relationship. He’s not the one at fault for the block in their teamwork; the same could be said for Choji as well. 

So yeah, no. He won’t stand for being lectured about something out of his control. He tried putting effort at the beginning, even if it was once, but _he had tried_. Ino didn’t bother doing so, so he can’t be the one blamed. 

Storming out in the middle of his mother ranting probably wasn’t one of his best decisions in life, but what’s done is done. He’ll return home when his father speaks some sense into the woman about how his mind works and some things just take time to bloom. 

That leaves Shikamaru to wonder the streets of Konoha, quickly making his way to his intended destination. Soon he arrives at the public pack to his and Choiji’s resting tree.

He stands under it, letting out a heavy sigh as he stares up at the white clouds obscuring the sky. A sense of tranquility washes over him, slowly snuffing out the fiery irritation coursing through his veins. 

It’s beautiful, he thinks. He's always longed to be a cloud, lazily drifting by and not grounded to anything, floating far from all of the troubles that come with life. The haze of snow falling serenely from above feels heavy when they land on his shoulders, having them sag in temptation to drown in the mounds forming all around him, and hardly helping him to think rationally. 

“Ah. It’s so cold.”

Like a spell, the voice of another breaks his trance, shattering the temporary relief he had of thinking he was free from being Nara Shikamaru and was finally a white stain on the earth. 

He frowns, eyes glancing towards the swing set to the only other presence in the empty park aside from him. 

Uzumaki Naruto. 

Shikamaru studies the boy, frown deepening at the thin layer of clothing the other deemed appropriate for this type of weather. Or is it the only clothing the other boy has as close to winter clothes? Being an orphan is just as troublesome as being a Clan Heir, maybe even worse, so he's not certain. 

That brings him to the mysterious circumstance that surrounds the other boy and the villager’s hate towards him.

As far as he could tell, Shikamaru has never seen Naruto do anything that could warrant the type of treatment he receives from the villagers. The blonde’s pranks are usually impressively executed, but nothing horrible enough to earn the dislike of the populace as a whole. Hell, he’s seen firsthand that Naruto has no idea why he’s hated, just that he doesn’t like it and decided to commit pranks in retaliation and be able to _know why_ the villagers dislike him if that's what it took. 

Then, there’s his name. 

Never once has he heard a villager, aside from his classmates, call the boy by his name. He’s heard whispers of demon and monster, followed by the fear of breaking the law, further intriguing and confusing him. 

He has a couple theories; few of which make his gut churn and twist uncomfortably just from thinking of such preposterous ideas. Fortunately, or not, he hasn’t found any concrete evidence to prove any of them, so he isn’t taking any of his guesses at face value. 

Still. His curiosity of the enigma called Uzumaki Naruto continues to grow each day he sees the boy and his interactions with the rest of the village. 

They’re not friends, just acquaintances who share the same dislike for school and to be free to do what they want. Sometimes they play together, especially after he’d told Iruka-sensei about Naruto being tricked into going to the Back Hills a couple months back, but they've never really had a decent or long enough conversation to be more than children who are classmates and don't mind each other's presence. 

He doubts the blonde knows what he did for him either, though he doesn’t really care either way, even if he wonders if their peers’ dislike towards Naruto is from their parents’ treatment towards him, or the boy is just plain annoying. In a way, he was no different than the other children in that department, he had assumed Naruto and he wouldn’t be friends, on the basis of the boy’s over-hyperactive personality and attention-seeking attitude being too troublesome to keep up with. 

However, now that it’s just him and Naruto in the abandoned playground surrounded by white sheets covering the background, he delves into the part of him that wants to figure out Uzumaki Naruto. 

The blonde looks hopelessly lost, seemingly staring out at the world with the blankest look he’s ever seen on the boy. He can’t remember a day Naruto had made another face aside from scowling like a ferocious beast or grinning like a fox. The blank face is new, and a little scary. 

A grinning Naruto is troublesome, a scowling Naruto is troublesome times two, and a blank Naruto is plain worrisome. 

Shikamaru instinctively takes a step forward before his brain even comes up with a solution to get him out of this troublesome situation. He takes another, and another, heading towards the blonde who turns his way at the sound of his footsteps.

He doesn’t know why he steps closer to the other, willingly closing the distance he kept between them after the many times he’s seen the boy stare longing at the closeness between Choji and him. It’s a thrilling feeling, and maybe even a little rebellious for considering to share the same space with probably the most hated person in the village when he stops a foot away, physically able to feel the heat emitting from the blonde. 

He pauses, waiting for recognition to spark in those eyes that rival the color of the sky, only hesitating for a moment to see if the other will ruin the moment he feels budding in the space between them. Slow and gently, like how his mother had done for him so many times in the past, he removes his scarf and wraps it snugly around Naruto’s neck. 

“I’m Nara Shikamaru.” He says in way of greeting once he’s done. They never personally introduced each other to one another, so he takes the initiative to do it. If he’s going to go on to finish what he started, than this needs to be done. He may be lazy, but finishing things half-assed irritates him as much as being nagged at.

When Naruto doesn’t reply back, and continues to gape, Shikamaru decides to help him. This is probably the blonde’s first time at actually getting a chance to introduce himself properly to someone who would listen. “This is the part where you say your name back.”

Almost instinctively, the blonde replies, “I’m Uzumaki Naruto,” and winces, a grim expression overtaking his features suddenly, as if saying his name was a mistake that will make the Nara leave. 

Huh. Perhaps there’s more to Naruto’s mask than he’s seen so far. He can’t wait to see each and every one.

“My Kaa-san said you can get sick if you don’t cover yourself properly. Why are you out here in the cold?”

Naruto stares at him like _he’s_ the enigma between the two, immediately answering without thought. “It’s white. Cold. Clear. Clean.”

“Ah.” If he was anyone but himself, he wouldn’t have noticed the deeper meaning in the boy’s words. If he hadn’t seen the way the other was treated by the villagers and their classmates on a daily basis, he wouldn’t have cared about looking underneath the underneath of the blonde’s words. “It is isn’t it? It reminds me of the clouds too.”

Snow is a reminder Naruto isn’t much different than Clouds are for Shikamaru. They’re different in so many ways, but too similar in the few that they aren’t. 

Naruto laughs at his words, not for fun, or forcing it like he usually did in the past, but because he’s genuinely amused. It echoes through the air, the sheer power of it sparking a thrum of _something_ inside of Shikamaru’s being. Unbidden, he smiles despite his earlier mood just minutes ago. 

He’s changed everything, and yet nothing at all somehow. 

“Want to be friends?” Naruto asks boldly, coming off inviting and challenging at the same time.

His smile widens slightly because of it. “Yeah. Kaa-san is making Hotpot for supper. I don’t think she’ll mind an additional person at the table. Want to come?”

Oh she'd definitely mind, but not in the presence of a new guest.

“Hotpot? What is that?”

Shikamaru nearly falters in his confidence that his mother wouldn’t blow up with Naruto around when he hears the blonde’s question. He stares at the boy, idly wondering why the other is so different than the other orphans throughout the village. He shakes the thought away, saving it for another day. It wouldn’t do if he figured out Uzumaki Naruto in one day, besides, he has a feeling it’ll be a long time before he’s able to completely unmask such a mysterious individual. 

He begins walking, heading back to the Nara Compound, pausing briefly to call over his shoulder when the other doesn't follow, “You coming or not?”

Naruto jolts at his words, quickly jogging after him and walking on his left, their shoulders once in a while grazing each other. “Does it taste like cup of ramen?”

Shikamaru stares in disbelief at the other causing Naruto to subconsciously grip the ends of his scarf like some kind of item to ground him. It's that moment when Shikamaru gives up and fully gives in to his thoughts and feelings of Uzumaki Naruto. 

There’s so much he doesn’t know about Naruto, maybe he shouldn’t and should mind his own business, but he _wants_ to know. Everyone in Konoha—orphans or not—has at least once heard of Hotpot whether they’ve had the chance to eat it or not.

The fact that Naruto hadn’t is discerning, and proof the village’s neglect towards him has destroyed any childhood experiences he was supposed to have. Shikamaru _knows_ that’s the reason, seen it multiple times but hadn’t done a thing about it to help the blonde. 

No more. From here on out, he won’t allow it. 

He doesn’t know what the future will come about with the friendship budding between them, or if it’ll even bloom, but he’ll make sure it does, and he knows Naruto will do anything to keep it. 

Shikamaru is grateful his parents aren’t like the other adults in the village and doesn’t mind that he doesn’t dislike Naruto. He just hopes his mother doesn’t blow up after the stunt he pulled earlier, and now this—bringing home a guest without his parents' permission first. Well, not like his mother can complain. She was the one who was getting up in his face about not befriending his blonde classmate. 

Naruto is _blonde_ , his _classmate_ , and the Sun Incarnate. 

Surely his mother will be more pleased with the boy than the Drama Queen right?

Eh, what a drag. 

He doesn’t care anymore. Not when Naruto sinks his head into his scarf and looks about ready to cry. 

Shikamaru doesn't look away, and instead offers a hand to the blonde. It's almost time for supper and he doesn't want to add more to his mother's ire. 

Naruto stares at his appendage for a long uncomfortable before placing his hand in it, and Shikamaru doesn't hesitate to hold onto it and begin sprinting through the cold air and falling snow. 

There's a shift in the air Shikamaru senses, uncaring, he shrugs it off as nothing more than a particularly cold breeze. 


End file.
